FEAST in Battersea Park

Foodies Feast – LONDON’S BIGGEST PICNIC

Battersea Park – Friday 16, Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 August 2013

"Foodies Festival is delighted to add a NEW festival of food and drink to their UK calendar – FEAST at Battersea Park, this summer’s essential celebration of food and drink.  The exciting new event invites London’s foodies to experience an exclusive picnic extravaganza featuring the UK’s largest selection of restaurant, street and artisan food available in one place."

With a weekend of entertaining to do, what could be better than a foodie excursion to Battersea, to sample some great street food, experience some live cooking and generally take in all things culinary? We started with a general tour of the park, assessing what was going to be the first stop on our food adventure. Alex decided to sample The Glorious Oyster and ordered a £10 bucket of seafood. This included BBQ Oyster, Mussels and Crab Legs with a generous helping of Samphire and Seafood Sauce - all grilled on a Barbecue. They also had £25 and £40 bucket options including fantastic looking lobsters. 

 Rob went straight in for the barbecued meats with a helping of Gaucho. Although we live so near the Richmond Gaucho, it's not a place we've ever been able to afford to eat at. So this was a great opportunity to sample some of their steak without the huge price tag. Rob ordered an "El Grande", which at £9 consisted of a burger, two thick and juicy slices of steaky beefy goodness and a fresh salsa verde sauce. It was great to get your teeth into. Although the burger was standard, the beef slices were delectable and I savoured every scrap I was thrown.
 

We then settled down to watch Shelina Permaloo, winner of Masterchef 2012, cook a couple of recipes from her new book - Sunshine on a Plate. She was so down to earth and warm and it was great to learn more about Mauritian food. She is also planning on opening a Mauritian restaurant, which is very exciting! She made Egg Rougaille, which is a rich, creole tomato sauce with a poached egg (similar to huevos rancheros I thought) and a Mango, Rum Syllabub, which just looked amazing. Both very simple, homely dishes but no less enticing.  She also gave away a couple of her books but my geographical knowledge let me down and I missed out. Disappointed? Yes, very.

Not the most flattering picture.

Is anyone else obsessed with coconut water? So many different flavours and it tastes to rich and creamy. Although I got my dad to try it, and he is a lover of coconut - he was not particularly impressed. There was a big coconut stall where they were slicing off the tops with a machete. How could I pass on the opportunity to have coconut water FROM A COCONUT. It was extremely heavy and about the size of my head but it was awesome.  I basically chugged it.

Then we watched Larkin Cen, Masterchef 2013 finalist. Alex and I became unhealthily interested in this years Masterchef and Larkin was a favourite of ours from the start. He was innovative and boisterous and his Welsh/Bristol accent mix is just the best. With a cavalier attitude, he cooked Pan Fried Seabass, in a clear asian broth with Pork Wontons and Enoki Mushrooms, as well a BBQ Lamb dish. His asian, surf and turf inspired dish was incredibly beautiful and the lamb smelt wonderful. I even worked up the nerve to ask him a question (much to the panic of Alex) and asked what he liked to eat himself at home. He told us he was a bit of a fast food junkie. He is developing a Masterchef book with Natalie (winner) and Dale and has included a recipe of this nature in his section. He told us that at university, the Rugby lads would try and take on the Triple Crown (finishing a McDonalds, Burger King and KFC in one go), so Larkin has decided to take this idea and create a Masterchef worthy starter! 

We had a quick drinks break in the Dorset Cider House tent. I had a half pint of Dorset Nectar (Of course! Dorset represent!) and Alex went for a pint of West Milton. Then it was time for another round of foodie delights!

Rob went for Calzone Fritters from Cheeky Italian. Deep Fried Calzone bites filled with Beef Meatballs, Fontina Cheese and a Tomato Sauce. These might have been my favourite thing that I ate all day. Really crispy and crunchy on the outside, with a soft flavourful and often cheesy filling. Too much Nutmeg for Rob and a bit too much Fennel Seed for my taste but they were a real textural and flavourful experience. 

Alex went for The Well Kneaded Wagon's Sourdough Pizza (think Franco Manca in a van). With toppings of Chorizo, Mushroom and Mozzerella with Rocket and Parmesan, this was great value at £7. Alex thought that "it was quick, well made, generously sized, tasted great and the person serving me was the friendliest person he spoke to there which always helps."

Then it was time for a spot of Afternoon Tea from Vintage Feast. They had such a beautiful selection of cakes that it was extremely hard to choose. I went for the Passionfruit and Coconut and Rob opted for the Lemon Drizzle. At £4 for a pot of tea and a slice of cake, their slices were extremely liberal. I couldn't even finish mine. The tea was by BrewHaHa Afternoon Blend and it was pretty average. It all felt very civilised until the true British weather set in. Calling Feast London's biggest picnic was going to jinx it wasn't it? The heavens opened.

 

Alex went for a third round of street food from The Banger Shack (created by The Shack Revolution). He went for a footlong (£5), which was served with mayo, rocket and fried onions.

The man himself said: "The sausage was good, tasted nice but wasn’t anything special. I’ve had nicer bangers in my mouth plus the staff weren’t exactly great, one of them looked like he really didn’t want to be there and it took him ages to even acknowledge I was waiting."

I got back on the tea train by engaging with We Are Tea, a brand I hadn't heard of before. I tried a couple of their more fruity infusions and they tried to sell me their new 'Slimming Tea'. The cheek. I went for a loose leaf English Breakfast tin to try against the loose leaf Waitrose English Breakfast I have at home. We brewed a pot when we got home and I found it extremely difficult to brew. It told me that I should use one tsp per cup and brew for 3 - 5 minutes. I brewed for 5 minutes and it was still way too weak. It took me three goes to get two decent cups of tea. We decided that the flavour was actually a bit bland compared to the Waitrose blend, so that was a bit of a disappointment.

 

After a nice walk along the river to alleviate some full tummys, we headed back into the festival to an Appleton Estate Rum and Chocolate tasting. Whilst waiting, it was clear that most people had gotten a bit pissed by this point and had lost of bit of their common decency. The rum tasting was interesting and we tried 4 different aged rums (along with one small piece of dark chocolate...). We all agreed that it was not something we could drink straight with ice but it had been a good experience. Exhausted, satisfied and a bit sleepy with rum, we headed home to a nice cup of tea and a pair of slippers.